Loader for refuse collecting trucks



1951 E. c. c. MILLER 2,573,269

LOADER FOR REFUSE COLLECTING TRUCKS Filed April 10, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 30, 1951 E. c, c. MILLER LOADER FOR REFUSE COLLECTING TRUCKS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 10, 1946 Ernesfi C.C.Mi1ler Oct. 30, 1951 E. c. c. MILLER LOADER FOR REFUSE COLLECTING TRUCKS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 10, 1946 M 3 E x I g o ow w 8 m1 Q mm w.:---:-:--:::-11----i----i:-iiiw:itimwhfin E New -imwl @N i Nm Nm N.

e m u 1 M. C. C s e m E mm 5 .0 On Nm 0m. m v ow .8 M wm Oct. 30, 1951 E. c. c. MILLER 2,573,269

LOADER FOR REFUSE COLLECTING TRUCKS Filed April 10, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fie.'7

INVENTOR. Ernes: 6.0mm

Patented Oct. 30, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 11 Claims.

This invention is for a loader and packer for a refuse collecting truck and is particularly designed for collecting municipal refuse. Municipal refuse comprises usually ashes, 1arge amounts of paper, cardboard, cartons, tin cans, glass containers, boxes, crates, rags and similar material. Ordinarily when the body of a truck is filled with such wast material, the actual weight of the refuse in the body of the truck, due to the fact that the material is loosely packed, is considerably less than the truck could carry if the material were packed in more tightly.

One of the objects of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a refuse collecting truck which will condense and pack the load, thereby increasing the weight of the refuse which can be put in a particular truck body, as compared with a load that is not packed and condensed.

' Another object of the invention is to provide me, single unitary mechanism a refuse loader that will receive refuse deposited therein and not only load it into the truck, but also, and as part of the loading operation, pack and condense the same, thereby substantially increasing the weight of refuse that can be put into the truck body.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combined loader and packer which is carried by the tailgate of the truck. This presents two very important advantages: First: when the load is to be dumped, the tailgate is raised and, inasmuch as the loader and packer is carried by the tailgate, it is completely out of the way for the dumping operation; Second: if any repairs on the loader and packer are necessary, the entire tailgate can readily be removed and another tailgate carrying another loader and packer quickly substituted; the truck body is thus not put out of service but may continue in service while the necessary repairs to the removed loader and packer are being made.

Mor specifically, the combined loader and packer of my invention comprises a rotary cylinder or the like, set into the loading boot which is customarily carried at the lower end of the tailgate; the loading boot is usually placed only two or three feet above the ground, so that refuse material can be readily dumped into it by a man standing on the ground. This rotary cylinder is driven by an suitable source of power and can be driven mechanically or hydraulically. The preferred drive is from a hydraulic motor mounted on the outside of the loading boot and directly connected to the cylinder. A hydraulic drive is simple, strong and powerful, and in the event that the loader should jam, any resulting excess pressure can readily be taken car of by an overload release valve; thus no parts are broken.

Furthermore, with a hydraulic drive, the fluid under pressure can be readil carried to the motor from the pump by flexible pipes which, due to their flexibility, can be readily bent and placed in any convenient position. A flexible connection is particularly advantageous in carrying the fluid pressure from the fixed truck body to the movable tailgate around the tailgate pivot.

It is to be particularly observed that the rotary cylinder, mounted in the loading boot, is provided with one or more pusher blades which, as the cylinder rotates, are moved toward and away from the surface of the cylinder, this movement being so controlled that the pusher blade picks up a charge of refuse and pushes it upwardly into the body of the truck. Every charge of refuse thus pushed into the body of th truck is given an impulse by the blade so that, as the truck body fills, successive charges of refuse are forced into the refuse already in the truck, thereby serving to compact and condense the refuse material into a more solid mass.

Cooperating with the rotary cylinder is a. scraper which is designed for removing any accumulated refuse material from the surface of the cylinder. By the time the pusher blade, if one blade is used, or by the time any blade, if several blades are used, reaches the scraper, the blades are retracted within th surface of the cylinder so that the scraper can perform its function without contacting a pusher blade. This scraper also functions so as to prevent refuse from being forced back into the boot While the cylinder is in operation.

The rotary cylinder, with its one or more pusher blades and its hydraulic driving motor, are mounted as a unitary assembly on pivoted brackets so that, in the event of a bulky mass of refuse being fed into the boot, which is too large to pass under the cylinder, the entire assembly of cylinder and pusher blades will raise itself against gravity, due to the reactive push against such mas of refuse material, allowing the mass of refuse to pass on into the body of the truck, whereupon the unitary assembly drops back by gravity into its normal position.

The main features of the invention having been thus outlined, further advantages of structure and operation will be described in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention.

In these drawings, Fig. l is a side elevation of the rear end of a refuse collecting truck showing the combined loader and packer of this invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross section of the loader and packer taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary end view partly broken away to show one of the cam plates at one end of the rotary cylinder.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the fixed cam plates at one end of the rotary cylinder.

Fig. 6 is a detached perspective view showing the rotary cylinder and one of the cooperating end blades.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of Fig. 1.

Referring now to these drawings, the body 2 of the refuse collecting truck is provided with the usual tailgate 4, detachably pivoted at its upper end to the body of the truck on the pivots 6. The tailgate is provided with locking clamps 8. Mounted on the lower end of the tailgate is a loading boot -l0, which is provided with a funnel member 12 for guiding the refuse into the boot. The bottom of the loading boot is so located as to be in line with surface l4; thus a smooth inclined plane is provided for the upward travel of the refuse on its way from the loading boot into the body of the truck.

Rotatably mounted in the loading boot is a segmental or slotted cylinder l6. This segmental cylinder l6, where four pusher blades are used, comprises four segments I8. The ends of the segments I8 are secured by bolts to end plates 22 at each end of the cylinder, so that when the. cylinder is assembled as shown in Fig. 2, four slots 24 are defined between the several segments. these slots extending from the interior of the cylinder to the surface thereof.

a The plates 22 are likewise provided with four slots 24, located just beyond the ends of slots 24 and substantially parallel therewith.

A pusher blade 26 is slidably mounted in each slot 24 so as to be movable inwardly and outwardly of such slot. To this end, each end of each pusher blade 26 is provided with an outwardly projecting stud 28, these studs passing through respective slots 24'; the outer ends of each stud 28 carries a roller. Rollers 30 are mounted to move in a cam groove defined between eccentrically mounted flanges 32 and 34, projecting laterally from an end plate 36.

'End plate 36 is secured at its periphery by bolts 38 to a bracket 46, pivoted at 42 to the boot Ill.

The cylinder I6 is mounted on a shaft 43, on one end of which is mounted a sprocket 45, driven by chain 44, and sprocket 46. Sprocket 46 is driven by any suitable type of rotary hydraulic motor 48,,through any suitable gear, such as a worm wheel drive.

To summarize the operation of the parts thus far described: When the cylinder I6 as shown in Fig. 2 is driven clockwise, the pusher blades 26 are carried along by the cylinder. The rollers 3 at the ends of the blades move along in the fixed eccentric cam groove 30', so as to cause the blades to be reciprocated gradually toward and away from the surface of the cylinder. The cam groove is so arranged as to give the maximum projection for a pusher blade 26 when it is about 90 away from the bottom of the boot, as shown in Fig. 2. Refuse is picked up and carried along in front of the blade, and is pushed along the bottom of the boot and upwards along the surface I 4, the blade meanwhile being gradually retracted into the cylinder. By the time the pusher blade reaches the scraper 50, the outer edge of the blade is within or below the cylindrical surface so that the scraper can remove any refuse adhering to the cylinder, and at the same time prevent refuse from returning into the boot. After a blade passes the scraper it starts to move outwardly again to pick up a fresh batch of refuse and the cycle is repeated.

Scraper 50 is carried by a transversely extending guard plate 5|, bolted to a guard plate 52, formed as part of the bracket 40. The scraper 50 and plates 5! and 52 move up and down with the bracket 40 and cylinder [6. The end walls of the boot are cut away at 54 to allow for this movement, escape of refuse being prevented by plate 52. i

The cylinder l6 and cooperating parts are mounted as has been described on the pivoted brackets 40. The purpose of thus pivoting the cylinder is to enable it to move upwardly to allow any unusually large mass of refuse to pass below it. If such a large mass of refuse is put into the boot, the cylinder continues to rotate and the blades continue to push against. it and the reactive effect of this is to raise the cylinder and the associated parts bodily about 42 as a pivot, the refuse passing under the cylinder, which then drops by gravity back to its normal position.

In order to limit the downward movement of the cylinder and to space it slightly away from the bottom of the boot, limiting abutments 58 are provided on the boot.

Fluid under pressure for operating the hydraulic motor may be supplied from a pump driven by the motor of the truck and connected by pressure and return pipes 59 to the motor in any desired position, as will be clear to one skilled in the art. That portion of the pipes 59' adjacent the pivot 6 are preferably flexible, to allow for pivoting of the tailgate. Detachable couplings are provided, as at 59", for example, for disconnection of the pipes when the tailgate is to be removed. These pressure pipes pass through a reversing valve, diagrammatically illustrated at 60, and operatively connected to a handle 6|. In case the loader jams, the obstruction can readily be removed by reversing the direction of rotation of the cylinder I6 once or twice for short inter-' vals, which is readily effected by means of the reversing valve 60, which reverses the direction of the flow of the pressure fluid, thereby reversing the direction of rotation of the motor 48.

As refuse is dumped into the boot, it is picked up by the pusher blades 26 and Pushed up incline l4 into the body of the truck. The cylinder rotates at about 5 to 8 R. P. M. As the truck body fills, continual amounts of refuse continue to be pushed into the body by the pusher blades, thus serving to compact and condense the refuse material in the truck body. If a large mass of material is dumped into the boot, the cylinder rises and lets the mass of material pass under it, pushes it up into the body of the truck, and then resumes its normal position by gravity.

The loader and packer forms a compact unitary assembly mounted entirely on the tailgate of the truck, so that when it is desired to dump the truck, the tailgate is lifted and the entire loading apparatus is thus moved completely out of the way. In the event of any necessary replacements or repairs to the loader and packer, the entire tailgate can readily be removed as a unit by disconnecting it at the pivots 6, so that the truck is out of operation for a very short time. Thisremoval of the tailgate would involve only the disconnection of the two fluid pipes leading from the truck body to the tailgate in the vicinity of the pivot connections 6. It is to be noted in this connection that, if desired, the cylinder constituting the loader and packer can be removed without disturbing the tailgate.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in some detail, it should be understood that the invention should not be limited to these precise details but that it may be carried out in other ways.

I claim as my invention:

1. A loading device for a refuse collecting truck, comprising in combination a loading boot, pivoted brackets carried by said boot, a slotted cylinder carried by said brackets, so as to be movable up and down in the boot, pusher blades movable edgewise in the slots in the cylinder, in and out with respect to the surface thereof, means for rotating said cylinder continuously in one direction, cam means supported by said brackets adjacent the end of the cylinder for effecting said in and out movement of the pusher blades, and a scraper blade supported by said brackets for scraping engagement with the surface of the cylinder and slidable engagement with a wall of the boot to prevent the return of refuse into the boot.

2. A loading device for a refuse collecting truck, comprising in combination a loading boot, pivoted brackets carried by the boot, a slotted cylinder carried by said brackets so as to be movable up and down in the boot, a rotary hydraulic motor mounted on the boot for driving said cylinder continuouslyv in one direction, pusher blades mounted in the slots in the cylinder to move edgewise in and out with respect to the surface thereof, cam means carried by said brackets to actuate said in and out movement, and guard plate means carried by said brackets having an arcuate surface portion for sliding engagement with a portion of the boot to prevent the return of refuse into the boot.

3. A loading device for a refuse collecting truck, comprising in combination a loading boot,- pivoted brackets carried by the boot, a slotted cylinder carried by said brackets so as to be movable up and down in the boot, pusher blades movable edgewise in the slots in the bracket in and out with respect to the surface of the cylinder, a cam plate carried by the brackets adjacent each end of the cylinder, and cooperating with the pusher blades for effecting said in and out movement thereof, a rotary hydraulic motor carried by said boot, and means, a portion of which is coaxial with the pivotal axis of said pivoted brackets, for operatively connecting said motor to the cylinder for driving said cylinder continuously in one direction.

4. In a refuse collecting truck, the combination of a tailgate pivoted to the truck so that it can be opened and the truck emptied, a loading boot carried by the lower end of the tailgate, brackets pivotally mounted on the boot, a slotted cylinder carried in the outer ends of said brackets, so as to be bodily movable up and down in the boot, pusher blades carried by said cylinder, and a hydraulic motor mounted on the boot and operatively connected to the cylinder, for driving it continuously in one direction.

5. In a refuse collecting truck, the combination of a tailgate pivoted on the body of the truck, a loading boot carried by said tailgate, a slotted cylinder rotatably mounted in the boot, pusher blades mounted in the slots in the cylinder to move in and out with respect to the surface of the cylinder, cam means operatively connected with said pusher blades for operating them, a rotary hydraulic motor carried by the boot and operatively connected with said cylinder for turning it, flexible detachable coupling means for operatively connecting the hydraulic motor with pressure pipes on the body of the truck and a reversing valve cooperating with said hydraulic motor for reversing its direction of rotation.

6. In a refuse collecting truck body provided with a hopper having a passage leading into the truck body, the lower wall of the passage and of the hopper providing a substantially continuous surface for the movement of refuse, a horizontally disposed drum feeding means provided with extendible and retractable pusher elements, trunnion means for the drum feeding means, pivotal support means for the trunnion means for swinging movement of the feedin means about an axis parallel with said continuous surface, guard plate means carried by said pivotal support means having scraping engagement with the periphery of said drum feeding means, at least a portion of a surface of the guard plate means defining a cylinder of revolution coaxial with said pivotal support means, said passage including an upper Wall provided with a horizontal edge portion disposed contiguous with the cylindrical surface of the guard plate means to prevent return of refuse into the hopper, and power means for sequentially positioning said pusher elements and rotating said feeding means.

7. In a refuse collecting truck body provided with a hopper having a passage leading into the truck body, the lower wall of the passage and of the hopper forming a substantially continuous surface, a horizontally disposed rotary feeding means disposed for bodily movement toward and away from said continuous surface for feeding varying loads of refuse in cooperation with said continuous surface, the upper wall of the passage terminating with a marginal portion disposed close to said rotary feeding means, movable guard plate means having an edge in scraping engagement with the rotary feeding means disposed in slidable engagement with said marginal portion of the upper wall to prevent return of refuse into the hopper.

8. In a refuse collecting truck body provided with a hopper having a passage leading into the truck body, the combination including horizontally disposed drum feeding means provided with sequentially actuated extendible and retractable pusher elements positioned within the passage,

said passage including side walls having elongated apertures, a supporting shaft for the drum feeding means having end portions adapted to project outwardly through said apertures, trunnion means for said end portions of the shaft pivotally mounted outside of said passage for swinging movement of said drum feeding means to accommodate varying loads of refuse, side plates carried by said trunnion means adapted to overlie said apertures to prevent escape of refuse in the hopper, and guard plate means carried by said trunnion means having slidable engagement with a wall of the passage to prevent return of refuse into the hopper.

9. In a refuse collecting truck body provided with a hopper having a passage leading into the truck body, the combination including rotary refuse feeding means having sequentially extendible and retractable pusher element means coacting with one wall of said passage to feed refuse, pivotally mounted bracket means for bodily movement of the refuse feeding means toward and away from said one wall to accommodate varying loads of refuse, arcuate guard plate means supported by said bracket means having a margin in scraping engagement with the feeding means, the arcuate portion of the guard plate means coacting with a second Wall of the passage to prevent return of refuse into the hopper, and drive means for actuating the rotary refuse feeding means.

10. In a refuse collecting truck body provided with a hopper having a passage leading into the truck body, said passage having a stationary surface for supporting refuse being moved, a horizontally trunnioned drum feeding means positioned in said passage, said drum feeding means being provided with extendible and retractable pusher blade means, a portion of said stationary surface being disposed in converging relationship with respect to the peripheral surface of the drum feeding means for urging the compacting of refuse moving between said surfaces, scraper blade means for the drum feeding means coacting with a wall of the passage to prevent return of refuse into the hopper, and cam means adapted to extend said pusher blade means to move refuse between said converging surfaces and to progressively retract said pusher blade means during movement of the pusher blade means adjacent the converging'portion of the said drum feeding means being provided with outwardly extendible and inwardly retractable pusher blademeans, a portion of said stationary surface being disposed in converging relationship with respect to the peripheral surface of the drum feeding means for urging the compacting of refuse moved between said surfaces, scraper blade means for the drum feeding means movably coacting with a wall of the passage to prevent return of refuse into the hopper, and cam means adapted to extend said pusher blade means to move refuse between said converging surfaces and to progressively retract said pusher blade means during movement of the pusher blade means adjacent the converging portion of the stationary surface, whereby the refuse is rolled and compacted as it moves from the hopper into the truck body.

ERNEST C. C. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 355,671 Worrest Jan. 4, 1887 532,623 Wright Jan. 15, 1895 1,736,666 Parks Nov. 19, 1929 2,151,886 Barrett Mar. 28, 1939 2,212,058 Wood Aug. 20, 1940 2,301,088 Stahl Nov. 3, 1942 2,430,973 Boissonnault Nov. 18, 1947 2,509,388 Biszantz May 30, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 469,136 Great Britain July 20, 1937 311,733 Germany Apr. 8, 1919 420,365 France Nov. 22, 1910 46,003 France Dec. 3, 1935 (Addition to No. 790,709)

825,873 France Dec. 16, 1937 

